Organization XIII's band
by yamarik
Summary: Axel decides to start a band comprised of the members of Organization XIII. Because that will go ever so well.


Demyx was in a good mood. He had finally found a place where the organization members rarely went where he could sit and play his sitar. Life was good.

He was happily playing one of his favorite songs when Axel came in. Demyx had a policy of ignoring Axel, since when he did this, Axel ignored him. And that was fine for them.

"Heeey, Demyx. Long time no see."

Demyx missed the fingering for the next chord. He knew that tone of voice, as did the entire organization. That was the tone that told the listener that Axel was bored. And as anyone in the organization could tell you, Axel was impossible when he was bored. Also, what was with the "long time no see"? Demyx had last seen Axel not even an hour ago. Demyx continued playing, hoping Axel would go away. He didn't. Instead, Axel sat down near Demyx. Far too close for comfort.

Axel started prattling on about something or other, and Demyx tried very hard to concentrate on his sitar. Wouldn't this guy shut up and leave? Where was Roxas? Or that Xion kid? Those two had an uncanny knack for entertaining Axel. They were a double blessing to the organization, what with being keyblade wielders and with keeping Axel from being too much of a pest. If one of them showed up just now, he would kiss them. But he had chosen this area for its lack of use, and aside from Axel, no one would come this way. Demyx knew there was no hope.

"Is it fun?" Demyx realized Axel had been quiet for a moment, and so the sudden question shocked him anew.

"Pardon?" Oops. He'd broken his silence. Now he was really in for it.

"Playing that thing. Music. Whatever. Is it fun?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean we should start a band."

Where did that come from? Whatever. Axel was bored. He'd say anything to get a rise out of his victims. Demyx's fingers had stopped moving when Axel first got his attention, but now he resumed playing. Axel had to give up eventually, right?

"But don't you think that would be super cool? Organization XII: the band," Axel said, putting one arm around Demyx's shoulders and waving the other arm in front of them in a slow arc as if to indicate there was writing on the air for them to read. "We could write awesome songs to share with the worlds and become a huge hit. Everyone would love us and they'd have to acknowledge our existence, hearts or not. And maybe you'd get everyone to stop calling you a sissy all the time."

"Who said that? I mean, uh…" Demyx realized he was beaten. Better to go along with Axel at this point. And besides, maybe he could show off his skills a little bit. "Fine."

"Great! Now I'm thinking, since there's thirteen of us and all, we need to go all out. Of course you'll be the lead guitar and all, and I think I'd make a great vocalist, but we're gonna need a lot more than that. If you ask me, we're gonna need a bassist, a drummer, a keyboardist, someone with a tambourine, a manager… um, let's see. That makes, what, seven? Hmm… Oh, we'll need someone for stage outfits and make-up… I guess the rest can just be groupies? Oh, I guess we'll need a songwriter too. Maybe we can get Larxene and Xion to be back-up dancers? Though then again, maybe your water would be better for that…" Axel stood up and wandered off. Good. By tomorrow, this would all be forgotten. Now Demyx could finally get some peace.

Xemnas looked at the piece of paper in front of him. He looked up at Axel, who was leaning forward, bracing himself on Xemnas's desk with one arm.

"So?" Xemnas asked.

"I figured this might be our big break through here. If we make music, we could figure out a way to use it to capture people's hearts. It would further our goals. Come on, it'll be great."

"And who will be taking part in this?"

"Oh, everyone will in some way or another. Right now it's just Demyx and me, since I figured your approval needed to come before recruitment. So what do you say, boss?"

Xemnas glanced at the paper again. It would be easier to just agree. That way Axel would hurry up and leave his study, and he could get back to his research.

"Give me a member list and then I'll think about it." It wasn't actual agreement, but knowing Axel, he'd take it as such.

"Sure thing, boss. In the mean time, would you like a spot in our little band event?"

Xemnas gave Axel a withering glare. Axel snatched up his paper and sauntered out without noticing. As he left, Saix came in.

"What was that about?" Saix asked.

"That fool wants to start a band or something. Waste of time if you ask me."

"I'm sure he'll lose interest soon enough. He does have a short attention span."

Axel, from his hiding place just beyond the door, snickered. How wrong they were. He walked off. When he was far enough away, he began whistling. He had posters to put up.

Three days later, it was almost time for the first practice of the organization's band. There was just one small hiccough to be ironed out.

"Come on, Saix. Don't be shy. If you're worried you won't do well, I'm sure you will. You're good at hitting things. Drums shouldn't be any different," Axel soothed.

"I see no reason to do this. It is completely pointless."

"I'll turn in my paperwork. All of it. Everything that's missing, and I'll even make sure everything is on time for the next month. Demyx too."

"I'm surprised Demyx agreed to that."

"Oh, yeah, he was totally enthusiastic about it." A lie. Demyx had no clue such a promise was being made.

"Two months."

"Whazzat?"

"Make everything on time for two months instead of one and we have a deal."

"I knew you'd come around. Now let's go. We can't keep everyone waiting!"

Despite the fact that Axel had almost no muscle mass and Saix had plenty, Saix found himself being bodily dragged into the chamber Axel had selected as their rehearsal hall.

"What's up, everyone? I brought our new drummer," Axel called in a singsong voice.

"Axel, I really see no point in me being here. I have experiments I could be doing," Vexen whined.

"Aw, calm down Vexing. You don't see Zee complaining do you? Look at him over there. He looks happy as can be," Axel responded, releasing Saix in order to gesture at Zexion, who looked up from his book, noticed people looking his way, and raised his book to cover his face.

"Vexing? Zee? What's with the weird nicknames?" Larxene asked.

"Aren't they great? Demyx and I came up with them. We figured if we're going to be a band we shouldn't use our real names. That way people are less likely to connect the band with us. If that happened we might lose popularity."

"Well, as your new manager, I reserve the right to approve all nicknames. Let's hear what else you've cooked up." Larxene folded her arms and raised her eyebrows, making it clear that she expected to be obeyed.

"Right then. Demyx, why don't you tell her?"

Demyx had been playing his sitar in the corner, but jumped up and played a riff for effect. He would never admit it, but over the last three days this crazy venture had really grown on him, and he couldn't wait to get started.

"Alright! So, first up is our awesome, um, Axel, what was Xemnas doing again?"

"He's part of our songwriting team, remember. I thought I told you to get it memorized."

"Oh yeah! So, Songwriter number one, Man sex!"

"Hold it! We can't have a member named Man sex. Vetoed!" Larxene yelled.

"What? But Xigbar asked him if it was okay and Xemnas himself approved of it."

Xigbar had been in the middle of animatedly telling Xaldin a story, but he stopped his storytelling to start laughing. Xemnas meanwhile, was exuding a cloud of darkness.

"I was just kidding. I can't believe you fell for that!" Xigbar choked out, and then fell over because he was laughing so hard. Xaldin sidestepped away from him.

"See, vetoed. I suggest… Xemxem. Let's go with that. Okay, next!"

"I don't think Xemxem is any better," Axel muttered.

The darkness coming from Xemnas was quickly developing into a fog that blanketed the floor of most of the room.

"Hey, Xemxem, do you think you could do that at concerts? Fog machines are always a great effect!" Demyx said, either oblivious to or ignoring the rage that their boss was barely containing.

"Ooh, I do think that would be a great idea. Costume designer and make-up artist, make note of that so the costumes and make-up match accordingly. We wouldn't want a fog machine and have something that is thematically clashing. We have to be classy."

"Alright. Next up is our amazing bassist! Xiggy!"

Xigbar was still rolling on the floor.

"Um, okay then. Kinda anti-climactic. Now introducing number III, formerly known as Xaldin, now known as: Xalman! He will be supervising choreography."

"Wait a second. Choreography? Xaldin?" Larxene asked.

"It's Xalman!" Axel insisted.

"I actually have training in classical ballet," Xaldin informed them.

"You're kidding, right? Who cares? Next!"

"Our prestigious number IV, Lexaeus, will now be Lexi. Lexi the Sexy, our keyboardist!"

"What, were you the pianist for Xald- Xalman's ballet class?" Larxene said acidly. Lexaeus didn't answer.

"Oh my god, I think that means he really was!" Luxord exclaimed. Xigbar finally stopped laughing and rolled onto his side to stare at Lexaeus, who calmly started humming some classical piece, though a red tint to his cheeks revealed his embarrassment. Without looking up from his book, Zexion reached over and patted Lexaeus's arm.

"Right then. Um, carry on?" Larxene said.

"Yes, please can we get this over with?" Marluxia drawled.

"What, have you got some important lounging around looking emo to do instead?" Xaldin asked.

"So um, we already introduced Vexing and Zee. Vexing will be our number one groupie, while Zee has kindly agreed to set up our lighting and sound systems." Demyx had to talk over Marluxia, who was growling at Xaldin. He looked at Axel, eyes wide in a panicked effort to get Axel to step in.

"Wait a minute! Why am I just a mere groupie?"

"Because you'd look horrible as a backup dancer. Everyone voted on it."

"Well I didn't vote! Surely you can't expect Zexion to do all the technical work by himself. I can-"

"Xion's helping me." At first, no one was sure where the voice came from. Somehow, with the book in the way of Zexion's face, the sound ended up echoing from different locations.

"Oh, that's- But I don't see why I'm a groupie!"

"You can help design merchandise and advertisement. As long as you aren't on the merchandise or ads. Satisfied?" Larxene's scowl indicated that Vexen really was vexing her. His survival instincts kicked in and he nodded meekly, knowing that any further words might be his last.

"Okay then, I'll take it from here," Axel said. Demyx nearly sank to the floor in relief. Instead, he dutifully played Axel an introductory riff. It wasn't quite as grand as the one he'd played for himself, but Axel would have to play his own guitar if he had a problem with that. "Lady and gentlemen. Brace yourself, because I am about to introduce to you… Psycho: the berserk drummer!"

"I'm not sure how you got the name, but it seems scarily accurate," Xaldin murmured.

"And then there's me, your amazing vocalist, Axeman! So from now on you should call me Axeman! Got it memorized?"

"And I'm Demilune! That's a fancy way of saying crescent. And before you protest that no one is going to know what it means, I already did. Axel insisted that I couldn't use Demigod so this was the next best thing. Besides, don't you think it fits? Since I use water and the moon manipulates water too?"

"He's evolved from local sitarist to soon-to-be-famous guitarist," Axel cut in.

"Can I get a woot woot?" Demyx called. No one responded. He sat down on the floor looking miserable.

"I think rather than a demilune, he's a demi-loon," someone muttered.

"Woot woot. Anyways, Luxord, or Lorde, shall be our tambourine player. So that he can collect tips in his tambourine when we're still mere street musicians. I estimate that if we move quickly, we can make it big in about two weeks. What do you say, manager?"

"I think I can cut that down to one."

"Great."

"Wait a minute, are you saying that I get to be a lord?"

"Not lord like the title. Lorde like that one singer."

"Can I claim some of her royalties?"

"I don't think it works that way."

"Well what's the point in using that name if I can't make money off it?"

"We just thought it'd be amusing."

"I knew there was a reason I didn't like you guys. This organization sucks."

"Wow you sound like our next contestant, Marly! He gets a feminine name to match his feminine looks and brand new feminine job as our costume designer, seamstress, and make-up artist. He'll be rather busy so don't bother him unless you see him slacking off."

"Marluxia, you're not going to take that lying down, are you?" Larxene whispered.

"Well, I am currently lying down, and I don't actually care. Gender is such an absurd and unnecessary concept, so why should I be bothered by slights regarding my gender?"

"Instead of worrying about Marly, don't you wanna know your nickname, manager? We picked a good one."

"I thought you were just going to call me manager the whole time. And while I'm flattered, I don't really need any new name and will you hurry up and tell me? And it had better be flawless, just like me, or else I'll be very upset. You don't want me to get upset, do you?"

"Birdie!"

"Say what?"

"No, listen, we were thinking of nicknames, and we thought we could shorten your name to Larx. But that's kind of weird. So then we realized it sounds just like larks. So we thought we could shorten that in turn to Lark, but then that didn't seem right, so we thought that since a lark is a bird, you could be Birdie."

"Well, I suppose you can't really do better with your meager brainpower. Two idiots combined are still an idiot after all. Now what about Roxas?"

"We couldn't convince him," Axel said.

"Really, I find that doubtful. Xion?"

"She doesn't think she can do this full time due to her health, so she doesn't get a cool new name. But as Zee said, she'll be helping him."

"Alright then. As your manager, I now order that our songwriter starts songwriting, Marly starts designing, our techs start planning out technical stuff, Xalman gets choreographing, and our musicians- wait a moment. Why do we need a choreographer when no one is dancing?"

"Oh, my water doubles will be the dancers. Dance water dance!" Demyx created a bunch of water doubles who started writhing. It was hard to tell if they were supposed to be dancing or pantomiming souls that have been cast into Hell.

"Right. As I was saying, do what I said, and musicians, start practicing your instruments so that when you finally get some music, you only sound terrible rather than something worse than terrible."

Xemnas was not enjoying this songwriting gig. It seemed every five minutes someone would interrupt him to make some demand. Didn't they understand he was trying to create art? How could they expect that he lower himself to their standards just because they thought that some hack's attempts at music actually sounded good? Well he'd show them. He'd show everyone. He'd show the world- all the worlds- what real music was. He was an artiste.

When Xemnas burst into the rehearsal space, clutching a sheaf of sheet music, he couldn't have been more excited. This was his proudest moment, even if it would eventually be overshadowed by him taking over Kingdom Hearts. It was glorious. He had achieved true greatness. Perhaps once he had a heart, he would spend the rest of his life replicating this beautiful moment where-

Where no one was paying any attention to him whatsoever. They were- they were… rehearsing. They were rehearsing a song! A song that wasn't his masterpiece of a song. How dare they.

"Ah. Xemxem." Larxene sounded very unconcerned.

"I- I brought…" he trailed off. He, the leader of Organization XIII, stammering and trailing off mid-sentence!

"You brought something? Let me see."

Xemnas obediently handed over the song.

"I thought I was supposed to be the songwriter."

"You took too long. We needed something for our first street performance. There's a perfect chance coming up in Hollow Bastion. We need to be ready for it. Hollow Bastion shall soon be both the birthing place of the Organization and the birthing place of our band. Isn't it exciting? And what's this, you've only brought one song? You worked for that long and this is all you bring?" Xemnas couldn't be certain, but he thought he heard Larxene mutter something about amateurs under her breath.

"Yo, Birdie, we need your input about these lyrics! Psycho doesn't like them but I think they're great!" Axel called.

"Coming. Also, Xemxem finally brought us our new song."

"Great! Let us see."

Larxene left Xemnas to skulk out of the room alone and unappreciated. But he didn't worry for long. Once they took a look at his song, they'd come to him on their knees in apology and beg him for more musical miracles. Which he would supply, but only after sufficient groveling.

Meanwhile, the band members were looking at Xemnas's song.

"Umm…" Demyx said.

"Well, uh, it's-" Axel started.

"This sucks," Xigbar said, voicing what they were all thinking but were too respectful of the fact that Xemnas was their boss in the end to say. "I mean," he continued, laughing as he spoke "this is probably the worst song I've never heard."

"And isn't this refrain such a rip-off?"

"He didn't even take any of our suggestions."

"Well, let's play it anyway. He seemed really excited about this and we don't want to make him mad."

"No, no need for that. I've got a great idea. See, I know how to deal with the man," Xigbar informed the others.

"Somehow, I've got a bad feeling about this," Lexaeus said in an undertone that no one heard.

"Yo, Xemnas. Big guy. Best bud. My pal-io."

"What is it Xigbar?"

"Listen, about that song you wrote…"

"You mean my masterpiece?"

"Yeah, yeah." Xigbar struggled not to laugh at Xemnas's optimism. Behind the door, the band members, who were all listening, collectively shuddered to think such an affront to music could be called a masterpiece. Though in a way, it was masterful in how awful it was. "Well, bossman, the thing is, it's just too awesome. There's no way a bunch of third-rate musicians like us could play such a fabulous tune." Behind the door, the band members had to hold Demyx back from punching Xigbar at the suggestion that he was a third-rate musician. Xigbar winced and hoped that Xemnas was distracted and wouldn't hear the sounds of scuffling.

"I see. You're right."

"So, sorry maestro, but we're just not going to be able to play it."

"Yes, of course."

Xigbar's smile stretched almost to his eyepatch. The other members heaved a collective sigh of relief that Xemnas fortunately mistook for the wind even though his window was closed. Xigbar turned to leave, but before he had taken three steps, Xemnas spoke again.

"So I just have to write songs that are on an easier level."

Xigbar did not turn around because he was sure the panic would show on his face. He should have sent Luxord in. That guy had an excellent poker face.

"Er-"

"If I try some of the band's suggestions, it might work, though the songs won't be as good as this one."

Behind the door, the band members were all trembling at the thought of Xemnas massacring the ideas they had naively suggested. Demyx was silently crying at the thought that music could get any worse than that first song.

As Xigbar thanked Xemnas through gritted teeth, the rest of the band dispersed, utterly depressed.

One week later, a stack of new songs arrived. With dread, the band looked them over. In disbelief, they stared at Xemnas. How could he? How could someone who wrote a disaster and called it a masterpiece write an album's worth of songs that were actually pretty good?

Roxas was sitting alone on the clock tower. He wondered what it was that he'd done wrong. Axel barely talked to him these days, and Xion was evasive in their conversations. If he asked her about recent missions, she changed the topic. If he talked about Axel's recent absences, she said he was probably just busy, even though Roxas knew full well that Axel hadn't been on many missions recently. In fact, Roxas seemed to be pulling double duty when it came to missions, and everyone else seemed to be doing nothing. Did they expect him to singlehandedly do the work of 14 people? No way!

The weirder thing was that everyone else seemed to disappear too. Like the whole organization would disappear at once. Had he done something that made them think he was no longer necessary? Were they planning on turning him into a dusk? But then why were they making him do all the missions? None of it made any sense!

It had been like this for nearly a month now. He was starting to feel pretty miserable.

Below him, he heard the voices of Hayner, Pence, and Olette. They were talking rather animatedly about something.

"Can you believe it? The Cloaks are holding a concert this weekend."

"The Cloaks? Here? In Twilight Town?"

"Guys, we've got to get tickets to this."

"But we don't have any money."

"That's okay, we'll just check the message boards and get odd jobs."

"Don't work yourselves too hard. You guys know I'll always take care of it."

As their chatter faded, Roxas resumed his worrying. A concert wasn't that interesting.

As he left the clock tower, however, Roxas's opinion changed. He saw a poster for the concert the three had been talking about- perhaps this poster had sparked their conversation. On the poster however, was a very familiar looking cloak. It was identical in design to the one he was wearing. The cloak that all organization members wore. Curious, Roxas vowed to go see the concert.

The day of the concert, Roxas was really nervous. He didn't know what to wear. If he just wore his cloak, that'd be normal for him, but then he'd look like some sort of wanna-be. And also it didn't feel right, going to a concert as a member of Organization XIII. But then again, it also didn't feel right to take off the cloak. What to do?

Roxas chose not to wear his cloak. But as he neared the concert hall, he regretted his decision, as everyone seemed to be wearing cheap replica cloaks. Dodging down a side alley, Roxas quickly returned to the World that Never Was in order to grab his cloak. Good thing he'd left early.

As he entered the concert hall, the atmosphere was so tense he thought he could probably slice it with his keyblade. Everyone was so excited. Should he be excited as well? It could be hard sometimes, not having a heart. How was he supposed to know how to feel?

The band came out. Roxas was so preoccupied with trying to read the mood that he almost didn't notice, didn't hear a familiar voice announcing the first song. It wasn't until he heard the opening shout of "Dance water, dance!" that he came to his sense. He knew everyone on the stage. Nearby, there was a merchandise vendor. Roxas was about to head over and try to find out about the band members when he recognized the vendor as Vexen. That was seven of his colleagues. Where were the other six?

On the ground he noticed a pamphlet someone had dropped. He picked it up and read about the band and its crew. They all had strange names, but there was a total of thirteen people credited. Thirteen other members in the organization. They'd lied to him.

No that wasn't true. No one had ever said they weren't in a band. But how could they leave him out? Even Xion was listed on the pamphlet. He'd thought they were friends? Weren't they?

Roxas did not hear the songs at all. He'd left the concert before the first one was over, and he could not register the music when his brain was so desperately working to process this shock. But if they wanted to go behind his back, fine. He'd just have to show them. He'd start a band too. And his band would be even better. His band would be so good, no one would remember The Cloaks even existed.

"Demyx, how could you? I told you, no screamo!" Axel said, sulking at the unexpected addition Demyx had added to the song Axel had written. While most of their music was written by Xemnas, they had all written songs when anticipating cacophonous music from Xemnas based on his "masterpiece". They did need to play something. When Xemnas's new songs proved not to be an auditory assault, they had decided to debut one song at each concert. Today had been Axel's turn, only then Demyx had ruined it. And at the concert too.

"Come on, it was fine. The audience loved it."

"But I told you no!"

"He had my approval," Larxene stated.

Axel stared, his mouth ajar.

"And mine," Xion added. Since she was not a full-time member of the band, she had chosen to help Axel with his tribute to their friend rather than write her own song.

"B-but no one else's songs got changed."

"And your point is?"

"Nevermind."

Axel's main issue was that he'd written that song for his best friend, Roxas. When Demyx had asked him at the beginning whether Roxas was joining, Axel had lied when he'd said Roxas wasn't interested. He'd kept it a secret from Roxas. He'd told the rest of the band Roxas hated the idea so much that he didn't want to even hear it mentioned, but Roxas had never known. Axel felt guilty about keeping secrets from his friend, but there was a reason.

It was the most ridiculous reason ever, except...

Except the band was actually pretty fun. And they were pretty good too. He was enjoying this. They all were. Even without hearts, without feelings, without identities, they were having fun.

"Roxas, you're on!"

Roxas took a deep, steadying breath. Here it was. His big moment. His first concert. He'd worked hard to get here. It had taken some time, and he'd had to go through lots of vocal training and other lessons. But here he was. If this concert went well, he'd go back to the World that Never Was and tell everyone about it. He'd invite them to his next concert. Because unlike them, who never once invited him to any of their concerts- even though there was only one of him to invite- he could be gracious and procure them some tickets. Telling himself his sweat would not be visible to the audience, Roxas stepped on stage.

His first thought was that the lights were rather bright. For a moment, he felt blind, until his eyes adjusted somewhat. He wished they hadn't. The concert hall was packed. So many people had come. His agent had told him that his first singles had been hits, but to think they were this popular.

Something brought his attention to the first row. A flash of red maybe. Or some movement. Perhaps it was the big foam hand. But whatever it was, he instantly forgot for there in the first row was the entire Organization.

They stood in order, I-XII and then XIV. First there was Xemnas, who was scribbling in a notebook. He was having some difficulty however, as Xigbar had looped one arm around Xemnas's shoulders and his other arm around Xaldin's neck. Lexaeus was standing stoically, but Roxas could see a shininess trailing from his eye. Proving Roxas's theory about that shiny trail, Vexen handed Lexaeus a tissue with the hand that wasn't encased by foamy support. Zexion, not surprisingly, had a book. He also had noise cancelling headphones on. Who wore headphones to a concert? However when Zexion was jostled by someone behind him, Roxas could see the cord was connected to nothing. Since headphones weren't a part of Zexion's image, Roxas decided that they must be too keep things from getting too loud for Zexion. Saix was pretending not to know Axel, who was waving enthusiastically. Demyx noticed Axel's waving and joined in, until the two were competing to see who could wave harder. Next to them, Luxord was flirting with girls in the row behind them. Marluxia had a camera. That was embarrassing. Next to him, Larxene had out a cell phone and was furiously tapping away. Perhaps she was playing a game. Backstage, Roxas's phone received a text. And another. And another. The texts would keep coming for the entirety of the concert. Larxene was not letting her commentary go to waste. And there on the end, was Xion. She was cheering normally, like a sane human being.

As the first song began, Axel suddenly climbed up on Saix's shoulders to cheer. Demyx looked appalled, and started begging to be let up there too. Saix meanwhile kept trying to shake Axel off. Neither of them had any success however, as Axel stayed up, much to the dismay of everyone behind them.

Roxas ignored them and kept singing. He'd just pretend he didn't know these people.

Xigbar did not want to be outdone. Besides, that looked fun. He released Xemnas and climbed onto Xaldin.

"Onward!" he shouted, and directed Xaldin to charge Saix and Axel. It was time to battle.

While Xaldin was charging forward, he somehow knocked aside Vexen, who was cheering wildly even though he'd been trying so hard to look bored up until the concert began. Zexion would have been trampled too, had Lexaeus not lifted him up out of the way. Zexion closed his book and looked at his rescuer. Some silent communication happened, and Lexaeus lifted his young comrade up even higher. Axel, Saix, Xigbar, and Xaldin all looked up at their new competitor. This challenger pair made them all shake, because they would be unbeatable. But none of them were the types to give up.

The battle in the front row was fierce. Lexaeus held his ground even when the other two teams ganged up on him. However, before victory could be obtained, some security guards came and broke up the combatants. They were allowed to stay in the end, but had to split up to various parts of the hall, which they would be escorted to by the guards. Through all this, the concert went on.

After the concert, Roxas returned home and was greeted by the Organization. Axel and Xion had ordered sea salt ice cream, Xaldin had ordered pizza, Xemnas had surprised them with cake, and Xigbar did not surprise anyone when he produced lots and lots of alcohol. Marluxia had even decorated a bit, and had brought Roxas a bouquet of roses. It was a great party, tempered only by the fact that Roxas discovered that the Cloaks had withdrawn from the music world just after he started his career. He'd been so busy he hadn't noticed.

Because the whole reason the Cloaks had existed was to goad Roxas into becoming a singer. A harebrained scheme, really, but Roxas was too competitive to back down from a perceived challenge, even if it meant overcoming his shyness of singing in front of people. Axel had planned it all based on his knowledge of his friend. Now that he'd succeeded, there was no longer a need for the cloaks to exist. But while Axel was willing to withdraw once he'd achieved his goal, Roxas was not. He would go on to become quite famous. You may even know some of his songs…


End file.
